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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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 Hollinger Corp. 
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 PREFACE. 
 
 The paoces contained in this little pamphlet are 
 published at the re([uest of the wife of the 
 young- man who>e death bed confession lies be- 
 ioie you. One of the most prominent physi- 
 cians to whom the confession was made in full, 
 has kindly volunteered to have the facts pub- 
 lished and oflered for sale. Aside from the 
 charitable object in view, it is a curious series 
 of facts, and not until the end of the confession 
 doe? the singular entrance of the Postage 
 Stamp take place. 
 
 The low price of this little book will enable 
 every one to purchase a curiou^^and wonderful 
 piece of reading. ty^ 
 
 Ralph BoDEXEAUX, M. D. 
 
 Co 
 
 /^^/ 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress in tl^e 
 year 1869, by Ralph Bodeneaux, M. D. , in 
 the Clerks office of the District Court of the 
 United States for the Eastern District of 
 MissourL 
 
 
THE CONFESSION. 
 
 Ill the summer of 18— I was called to attend 
 upon a younof man who was stricken down in 
 the prime of life by that terrible scourge, the 
 Small Pox. The wife of the vouno- man fiad 
 delayed to long ere summoning a physician, arid 
 the disease had taken such deep root upon his 
 systEui, that 1 saw at a glance there was very 
 little chance tor his recovery— however I kept 
 the young man alive long enougli to receive 
 from his lips the following confession, verbaiem 
 et literatum. 
 
 Two days before he died he said to his wite, 
 Dora, I wish you would leave me alone with 
 the Doctor for aa hour or two us I have some- 
 thing to communicate to him which I prefer 
 you should not hear from my lips— though 
 when I am dead you will know all. His wife 
 lett the room weeping. When the door was 
 closed, he motioned me to take a chair and be 
 seated near his bedside. I complied with his 
 request, eager to hear what my patient had to 
 
impart unto mo. When" I had beeome seated 
 he reached out his arm and took my hand in 
 his— Doctor, said he. tell me honestly and truly 
 how long I htive o-ot to live— tell me the truth, 
 for I know that I have «^ot to die ere many 
 
 hours have passed away. E. said I lay- 
 
 in|j my hand on his pulse, you certainly cannot 
 survive more than thirty six hours at the 
 farthest, there I have told you the truth, and 
 may you find rest for your soul ere that time 
 Jias passed. 'Tis well said he. Doctor listen 
 to me while I relate to you part of my history- — 
 that part which has haunted and troubled me 
 for many, many months. Promise me that 
 you Avill not disclose one word o f what I say 
 until the clay is over my coffin. j promise 
 you I replied. Then listen to the confession of 
 a dyin^ man. 
 
 In 18 — -, I came to this city trom the East, 
 I had heard much of the Western Country, and 
 determined to seek my fortune in this city: I 
 brought with me letters of recommendation 
 from several prominent men in the East. In 
 less than a month after my arrival these secured 
 me a situation in one of the larcrest business 
 houses in the city . In a short time I g-ained, 
 as I supposed, the full confidence of my em- 
 ployers, who treated me with marked respect 
 and courtesy. A year passed away, at the end 
 of which time my position & salary were raised, 
 
with fair prospects of a future j^iJartnehhip in 
 tlie lirm. Darin tf my term of service in the 
 house I became acquainted with the ladj'^ who 
 is now my wife; having saved some little 
 money trom my salary, in addition to a small 
 sum brought with me trom the East, I thought 
 the matter over in my mind and thinking of 
 the prospects before me, i considered myself 
 safe in getting married. The ceremony was 
 performed in a quiet way, and with my wife, 
 took rooms in one of the modest boarding 
 houses, with which this city is crowded. I 
 doubt if ever there was a happier couple in ex- 
 istence tiian Dora and myself, but even the 
 clouds that have a silver lining are black enough 
 in the center, my wife almost daily visited me 
 at the store, as she felt lonely being lefi alone 
 during the working hours. It was not long 
 ere she was acquainted with the proprietors, and 
 if she chanced to call upon me while I was very 
 busj', she would retire to the office and converse 
 with either of the firm until my busy moments 
 were over, when she would return to my side 
 and enjoy a chat with me. One day she paid 
 me a visit, I happened to be extremely busy at 
 the time, seeing which, and not wishing to 
 interupt mo she as usual proceeded to the 
 office. Our Junior member was not in town at 
 the time and no one occupied the office but our 
 Senior. I .had nearly finished' my business 
 
6 
 
 with one of our best cnstomers from 
 the country, in fact he was just on tlie 
 point of leaving the store, when my wife came 
 rushing out of the office, her tace pale and her 
 eyes filled with angry tears. I gazed at her 
 with astonishment us she came up to me. She 
 cried, r have been grossly insulted. 1 was so 
 thunderstruck at this remark that or a moment 
 oi: two my tongue could not find speech . When 
 it did 1 exclaiaied, how — where I In there, 
 she replied, pointing toward the otiice. I 
 rushed forward furious with rage, on reaching 
 the door I found it locked , with one blow from 
 my foot I bui-st it open and rushed in, there 
 stood the Senior member with a large ebony 
 ruler in his hand apparently on the defensive ; 
 not thinking or caring for the consequences I 
 sprang upon him and seized him by the throat, 
 he being a much more powerful man than my- 
 self, released himself from my grasp, and on 
 the next instant, struck me a fearful blow on 
 the head with the ruler. I sank senseless to the 
 floor, a film of darkness came over me. When 
 I came to 1 found myself lying in bed i»t my 
 boarding houoc and my wife bending over me. 
 1 was delirious for some days after wards-, but 
 finally recoverad from the eflects of the fearful 
 blow- Tnen my wife told me the whole story 
 of how alie had been insulted by the Senior 
 mejaiber. My blood fairly boiled witli rage to 
 
triink ^ that the ' man wliom 1 had trusted a^ a'^' 
 tri6fld sliould have become my bitterest enemy. 
 Little 'did I think or know what a wolf in 
 slieei)s clothing had been befriending me 
 ajDi^orehtry: 
 
 \Vh en t was able to leave my bed L inimedi- 
 ately armed myself with a revolver and proceed- 
 ed to the store, determined to shoot the villian 
 on sio'iit. ^On reaching the house I Was refused 
 admittance by order of the firm. I secreted 
 nij^self however near the store, and awaited the 
 coaming of the man I sought, but my disap* 
 pdihanent was great at not seeing him- he had^ 
 either left the city or else escaped by somie ^ 
 other way than from the front. About eight 
 o'clock in the evening 1 returned home> sad at 
 heart. Early the next morning, in fact a long ^ 
 time before the store was opened, I was at my 
 post; again wa<5 I doomed to dissapointment, 
 not a sVgn did I see of the man 1 was seeking—.. 
 dffV after day did I trayerse the city — day after 
 day did I await his appearance at his place of 
 bitsihVss— day after day did I seek him at his 
 resideiice— but of no avail. When a month had 
 passed, t came to rlie conclusion that he had 
 left the city on making enquire.* I found he had 
 left town, but 1 could gani no information as to 
 hi« whereabouts. Depressed in mind and 
 spirit at my not l^eing successful, I sbut myself 
 up in the house and there brooded over my 
 
wrongs. My wife endeavoured to comfort and 
 console me; she had recovered from the excite- 
 ment and agitation that she had received at the 
 hands of my great and generous nenefactor; and 
 in fact, she was mucli more selt-possessed tlian 
 myself. Another month passed away, when I 
 bethought mj^self that it was time to be seekinu; 
 emploj^ment, as my tunds were becoming rather 
 low. I had also become more reconciled to my 
 misfortune and tried to put a cheertul face on 
 the matter. I applied to several parties in the 
 city, but was politely informed that they did 
 not wish employ a defaulter. That was the 
 crowning stroke — a defaulter ! i could obtain 
 no explanation, merely beyond that they had 
 heard of me from good authority, and they 
 could give me nothing. Wlien I intormed my 
 wife of this she was nearly broken hearted. 
 As I could not obtain employment in ihe city, 
 I concluded the best plan was to seek a situa- 
 tion elsewhere. Quietly mj- wife and I packed 
 our trunks, and took passage on tlie Steamer 
 Ruth for Memphis. On reaching that place we 
 put up at one of the hotels. On the day follow- 
 ing our arrival I set out to look for something 
 to do; I was not particular as to what it was, as 
 as I was becoming reckless. Fortune seemed 
 to favor nie, lor on the third diy I proeucd n 
 berth as salesman in a Wiiole.<;ile groicrv: .My 
 mind then felt somewhat easier, as I could see 
 
9 
 
 my w.ij- somewhat clearer. After obtaining 
 the situation, we moved to a respectable board- 
 inf? house where our expenses would be con- 
 siderably less. Thino^s went on very smoothly 
 for a month or two, and I vvas fllatterino- myself 
 highly that I had 2;ot inio the good graces of my 
 new employer. One day while I was packint;; 
 some goods that were to be sent inland, I heard 
 my name called by the proprietor ; on going to 
 the office door he told me to come in as he 
 wished to speak to me on a matter of great im- 
 portance. I entered the office and sealed my- 
 selt in a chair and waited to hear his remarks. 
 Taking a lett(!r from his desk he spread it open 
 and handing it to me bade me to peruse its 
 contents The letter read as near as I can 
 remember, in this wise : 
 
 St. Louis, May 18 
 
 Mr. H., 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 . I understand that you have 
 in your employ a young man by the name of 
 
 O 6 C h. I do not wish to make 
 
 you feel that I have interfered in anj' way, shape 
 or form with your business, but I deem it my 
 duty to put you on your guard in reference to 
 the young man whom you have in j'our store. 
 I will state the facts in a few plain words, and 
 then you can act as you think proper. In 
 March, 18 , the person of whom I speak 
 
10 
 
 made his appeaiatttfe at Wj'^^^^cM&e 4iiiW tfend^ied-' 
 me several letters ot ree^rnmenfetloii,'' mi' tfae 
 strength of which I gave him a Bittiation.' I 
 thought him to be an hoftest, srraight-forward'- 
 j^oungman, but alks, 1 \Vas dij^S^pointed. ^■ 
 had not been in mj' employ" more than a yeiat' 
 and a half wheh T foutVd that -1 had ca)ij:e to 
 suspect him of • dishonesty ; I watched hinbi 
 closely for seveal weeks and was finally cohvin-' 
 ced that my suspicions wcire correct. I -cabled-" 
 him to me and statKl to hirwwtfat T knew^ ^Mf ' 
 with tears in his eyeSV eoitesed the' fact ancl 
 made a full statement of Ms <^iMito[e; ' ^I- did itot 
 wish to prefer charges against him ,'^ as I'knte^ - 
 it would go hard with hi ni^ in ' the court rOoin," 
 sol merely disobarged 'him from my employ ''' 
 and let the mfitter drop. If you yourself Svrsh 
 to keep him in j^our service, well and good, but 
 I can assure you, yoii will be the loser in the 
 erid. Ihave 1 he-honor to reihatn' ^- 
 Respecttulh^ 
 Your ob It. servant, 
 
 Doctoi-, wlien'l hjtd flhi^ed--thfe'a^fbBr; '¥■ 
 thought to myself tHat i^ the neatest '\>\ece of 
 villany I ever saw. That i= thie revenge said''' ft" ' 
 Wieli sir, can yoii explain the -Cf>ntents-<>f thKt '^ 
 lettej-, aske({ my new employer ? Da'3T>u be-^'' 
 1 ie-ve its con i ph t.s^ si r , I replied r* VV hat efte nrn' ' 
 1 to do but believi^ it V You see it is w"ritten%y';- 
 
11 
 
 one of the most prominent men in St. Louis, 
 and you say notiiing or give no explanation in 
 order to prove to the contrary. Because I have 
 TiO explanation to make beyond that the whole 
 thing is false and gotten up lor revenge.^ Oh 
 that will not do sir, replied he. such a man as 
 that would liave no motive for revenge on a clerk 
 that was formerly in his employ. It was in 
 vain, Doctor, that r expostulated with him, it 
 was of no avail. I was ordered to receive my 
 wages due from the book-keeper, and lake my 
 departure, which I did. On returning home I 
 broke the news to Dora, who clenched her little 
 hands with rage at the miserable mean conduct 
 of the cowardly villian who lad sought to 
 wrong me. I soon found out that tne i ews in 
 the letter had been spread among the business 
 houses of Memphis, and once more I found it 
 impossible to procure employment. My next 
 step was to go to Vicksburg, there I obtained 
 an inferior position in a Government office, but 
 I was not destined to remain there long. One 
 day I was suddenly discharged, the only expla- 
 natlon^being that I was reported as being dis- 
 honest. I knew well enough that I had been 
 tracked to Vicksburg, and another letter must 
 have been written similar to the first. Mj'^ 
 mind was in a perfect torture. How long was this 
 to go OD ? I tried again and again in Vicksburg 
 togetwirk, but all to no purpose. Finding 
 
12 
 
 mj^ money running short I pursued my vrsiy 
 to New Orleans, there I thought myself sate, 
 bui I was doomed, at least it seemed so, I had 
 just enstalled myself in a first class house, when 
 I was again summoned to the office and informed 
 that my services were no longer required ; this 
 drove me to a perfect frenzy. In turn I look a 
 solemn oath that I would retailiate on my 
 enemy, and let him see to his cost that two 
 could play at the game he was then holding in 
 his own hands. My wife tried to comfort me, 
 but all to no purpo se. I swore that I would be 
 revenged, and I set to work and racked my 
 brain in order to think and devise some plan in 
 which I could rid myself of my enemy. At 
 last I devised a plan by which I knew there 
 would be little chance of discovery. Having 
 settled the thing in my mind, I applied to a 
 druggist und obtained from him a deadly poison 
 the least panicle of which entered the stomach 
 was sure death. After obtaining the poison, 
 my next step was to procure some six or eight 
 postage stamps; my motive in doing so was 
 this ; I knew that the man who hated me, 
 placed any small change or stamps that he re- 
 ceived by mail, in a little private drawer in his- 
 desk, and I also knew that no one else but 
 hini?elf used the postage- stamps. After pro- 
 curing the stamps I carried them to my room 
 where I caretull removed the mucilage on the 
 
13 
 
 back, \vasliin<>- it CArefiiUy so that not a vestis:e 
 remained ; then witli some frei>h ouni arabic 
 which I had dissolved and mixed vvitli the 
 deadly poison I had obtained, I took a brush and 
 spread the mixture over the stamps, and laid 
 them in the sun to dry, after which they looked 
 just the same as when [ [obtained them at the 
 Post Office. I then sat down and wrote a letter 
 to my late St. Louis employer, to the effect that 
 I was a party who some years ago had kept back 
 a small amount of money on a sale that he had 
 made to me. and not havino- the exact amount 
 I remitted the balance in in stamps. 
 
 At the same time I wi-ote a letter to the lead- 
 inof paper in St. Louis,- statinof that I wis-hed to 
 subscribe tor three months, as I knew it the 
 thing was settled, it would, surely take place in 
 few weeks, and I should have the satisfaction of 
 seeino; the death of my enemy in the paper. 
 The paper came duly to hand day after day for 
 several weeks. I was only interested in the 
 column of deaths, INIy mind was on nothino- 
 else, At last, one morniuo: in looking over the 
 paper, I had the grim satisfaction of reading a 
 notice of the death of the man who had prose- 
 cuted me. I drew a long breath of relief, 
 though at the same time feeling a horible re- 
 morse, but I had determined on revenge, and I 
 got it. I sent to my friends in New York City 
 and obtained a fresh supply of money, after 
 
14 
 
 which 1 hastened to St. Louis, Chai>ginej my 
 name I ao:ain procured emploj- ment and remain- 
 ed unmolested. And now Doctor I have finish- 
 ed. May God forgive me for what I have done. 
 I had been driven almost to madness by the 
 wretch who had sought to wrong me, and I do 
 not think my sin is any greater than his. 
 
 You may call in my wife now if you please, 
 and remember your promise, not a word of this 
 until I am buried, then if you choose you can 
 tell it to the world, 
 
 During the young man's statement I remained 
 at his bedside wrapt in wonderment, thinking 
 to myself what a curious relation ot tacts, and 
 that truth is still greater tban fiction. 
 
 I called in his wife as requested and then lett 
 the house. On the following day I was at his 
 bedside when he died, his poor, young and 
 beautiful wife was nearly heart broken. 
 
 After the last ceremonies bad been performed, 
 I related to the widow what had been told me. 
 She knew the whole tacts with the exception ot 
 the poisining. 
 
 The lady is still living in this section of the 
 country in needful circumstances, and for this 
 reason she has consented to have the confession 
 published, the profits derived from which will 
 go to her , 
 
,15 
 
 There are several parties livinom this city 
 at th;e ]f)resent time who are well -acquainted 
 witli all th^ parties mentioned in this UtUe 
 paix^phiet. 
 
 im :if-- 
 
 ;HOi-'a-> 
 
 
m 
 
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